


ontheway!

by Anonymous



Category: SMPLive, Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, First Meetings, Friendship, Gen, SMPLive - Freeform, Self-Indulgent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-21
Updated: 2020-01-21
Packaged: 2021-02-27 16:40:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22346578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: This whole situation is kind of cursed. He's stuck on a bus in the middle of the night with a driver who's definitely going over the speed limit, talking to a stranger about Minecraft, of all things.-Travis meets Cooper on his way home.
Relationships: Cscoop | Cooper & Traves | Travis, No Romantic Relationship(s)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 117
Collections: Anonymous





	ontheway!

Travis runs a hand through his hair and watches the bus screech to a halt as it approaches the stop he’s been waiting at. Normally, he doesn’t take the bus home a couple of minutes before midnight, but he was stuck at a classmate’s house until late, working on a dumb group project. Of course, the guy didn’t think to offer Travis a ride home. 

He sighs and steps onto the bus. Travis fumbles through his bag for fare, mumbling an apology to the bus driver. The driver just stares forward, unblinking, as if he hasn’t even noticed Travis.

Suddenly, the bus lurches into motion, causing Travis to stumble forward a little. He’s mildly embarrassed, but thankfully, no one is even on the bus. 

That’s weird, even this late at night.

It’s completely empty, except for a guy in the back. His feet are propped up on the seats in front of him, and a skateboard rests against his legs. The fluorescent lights above him don’t seem to be working. The light is a dull, flickering pink, making the guy look unreal, like someone Travis dreamed up. 

His brain on autopilot, Travis makes his way over to the seat he usually sits in, when it isn’t ass-o-clock on a Thursday night. It’s close enough to the guy in the back that he feels anxiety spike in his stomach, the buzz of the broken light almost too loud for him to handle. 

He takes a breath and opens up Minecraft on his phone, knowing it’ll calm him down. Travis is in the middle of building a new house on his latest survival world. As the bus hurtles down the street, he sets about gathering materials. 

“Hey,” someone says. The guy behind Travis. He turns and sees that the boy is craning his neck towards Travis. They have to be around the same age. Light brown hair frames his face, his bangs falling over his eyes. “Are you playing Minecraft?” the guy asks.

“Um,” Travis says. “Yeah.”

This whole situation is kind of cursed. He's stuck on a bus in the middle of the night with a driver who's definitely going over the speed limit, talking to a stranger about Minecraft, of all things. 

“Dude. I’ve been wanting to play Minecraft all day, it’s so weird.” the guy says, grinning. The pink light glints on his teeth.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. It’s weird, cuz I haven’t played in years.”

Travis waves his phone at him, smiling. “You’re missinggg outtt.”

“I guess I have been,” the guy laughs. “D’you remember the blue roses? On the free version?”

“Yes! Little me was like ‘oooh, prettyyy.’” After a moment, Travis adds, “They got rid of them. They don’t even have a free version for your phone anymore.” 

The guy looks legitimately hurt by that, and his facial expression makes Travis giggle.

“No more blue roses?” he asks.

“No more blue roses.” Travis says, solemnly, before breaking into laughter again. 

The boy smiles at him. “I like your laugh.”

“Um,” Once again, he’s struck by just how strange this whole situation is. Maybe he’s dreaming. “Thanks.”

“I’m Cooper, by the way.” the guy stretches a hand out across the rows of the bus. 

Travis takes it. “I’m Travis. Are you still in high school?” 

“Yeah. ‘s my last year.” Cooper waves his hands nonchalantly. 

“Oh. Me too!” Travis says excitedly.

“Dude, nice,” he says. He crosses his legs, lounging in the bus seat like he’s at home on the sofa. 

“C’mere.” Travis says without thinking, patting the open seat next to him. 

Cooper smirks and sits, tucking his board under his feet. 

“Uh.” he says, eloquently. “Wanna play on my phone? My new house is a work-in-progress right now, but it’s almost done.” Travis unlocks his phone and offers it to Cooper.

“Nah, man. What’s the point of playing without blue roses?” 

“Oh. Uh.” Travis starts. He’s so stupid, this whole thing is stupid. “Right.”

Cooper’s eyes glint in amusement. “I’m messing with you, Travis. Of course I wanna play.” 

And then they’re on a tour of the world, which is named “OOG” (this makes Cooper laugh, for whatever reason). Travis throws himself into the role of a tour guide as he comments on the buildings, looking over Cooper’s shoulder. 

They swap stories about school as Cooper chops down oak trees. When a creeper explodes before Cooper can get away, Travis yelps, an incoherent little sound that makes Cooper laugh. 

After a while, Cooper looks up at the marquee displaying the next stop, and tells Travis, “This is where I get off, sadly.”

Travis looks out the window at the dark street. As he realizes where they are, his stomach plummets. 

“Shit!” he curses. “Cooper, I missed my stop.” he says anxiously. “what do I even do, I—“

“Travis. You’re fine. Just get off here with me, and we’ll figure it out, alright?” Cooper says calmly. “You don’t want to go any further in the wrong direction.” he adds.

“Right. That makes. That makes sense.” he replies, pulling his backpack over his shoulders. 

Cooper stands up, grabbing his skateboard in one hand and Travis’s hand in the other, so he can pull them towards the door. 

The bus stop is in front of a 24-hour diner with big, flashy neon lights that distract Travis for a second. 

Cooper touches his shoulder lightly, and Travis flinches. “It’s alright, dude. I can walk home with you if you want.” 

“No, it’s.” Travis panics. “I don’t want to make you do that. You don’t even know me! I can’t believe I didn’t notice we passed my stop.” 

“‘s no big deal. I can skate back home anyway. I just don’t want to have to worry about your gremlin ass for the rest of the night.” he teases. “Besides, I get off at the wrong stop all the time, don’t sweat it.”

“Thank you,” Travis says, relieved. “I’m, uh, not the best at paying attention sometimes. not that it’s — sorry I— “

“Travis, seriously, you’re way too on edge right now. Would you be down to get some food, maybe calm down a little?” he jerks his thumb towards the diner, in all its neon glory. 

“I’m down.” Travis grins sheepishly. “I mean, as long as you actually want to.”

Cooper shrugs. “We’re out late anyway. This place has good milkshakes.”

Travis smiles happily. “This restaurant is for boomers, Coopie.” he teases.

“You were very much in awe of the lights when we got off the bus.” Cooper rolls his eyes, not commenting on the dumb nickname, and leads him into the mostly empty diner.

A waitress comes over to take their order, looking thrilled to have something to do. They each get a milkshake and decide to share an order of fries. 

“Isn’t this funny?” Travis asks, unable to keep himself from grinning like an idiot. 

“What?” Cooper rests his chin on his palm.

“Us meeting like this. It was so random, but it feels like we’ve known each other forever, somehow.” Travis glances at Cooper. “I know that’s stupid.”

“No. It’s not, I get it. It was fate.” Cooper says, and weirdly, it sounds like he means it.

“Yeah, the universe decided you had to play Minecraft tonight, no matter what.” Travis smiles.

Cooper laughs. “I was thinking more along the lines of meeting you, but yeah, I guess.”

“Eugh, don’t get all sappy on me, Coopie.”

“Dude! We haven’t even known each other for one night, and you already have a sappy-ass nickname for me.” Cooper retorts.

“So you don’t like it?” Travis pouts. 

He rolls his eyes. “You’re a fucking gremlin, dude.”

Their order arrives, and Travis takes a sip of his milkshake. “Dude. ‘s so good, how is this so good??”

“Told you.” Cooper says smugly. “And it’s even better when you dip your french fries in it.” 

They settle into another easy conversation, and Travis’ worries start to evaporate. His house is only about a mile away, and if Cooper is with him, he won’t be as anxious about being out so late. 

After their glasses are empty, the pile of fries long gone, they wait for their server to return with the check. Even though there are only a handful of other customers, their waitress is taking forever.

“It feels like the whole world is asleep right now.” Cooper muses.

Travis hums in agreement. 

The waitress shows up, and they leave the diner, Travis holding the door open for Cooper.

Out in the clear night once more, Travis turns to Cooper. “Are you sure you don’t mind taking me home? I’ve already kept you out for too long.”

“I want to walk with you, Travis. you’re fun to hang out with, anyway.” Cooper smiles. 

“Oh, um, thanks. you are too.” Travis beams. 

“Besides, you should be asking yourself if you’re fine with me walking you home. I could be a murderer or something.” 

“Oh, that!” Travis shrieks. “I forgot murder was a thing, for a second.” 

Cooper blinks at him incredulously and then bursts into laughter. He loses it, almost wheezing. “Oh my god, Travis.”

Recovering from his fit of laughter, Cooper nods his head toward the street, and they start walking in the direction of Travis’ house. 

“I think I’ve figured it out now.” Travis says. 

“Figured what out?”

“Why it feels like we know each other. We could’ve been best friends in, like, an alternate universe or something.”

“Or a past life,” Cooper adds. “I like that.”

Travis hums, and they launch into a conversation about music, which morphs into a conversation about video game soundtracks. 

Right as they finally reach Travis’ house, he comes to a realization. 

“Wait.” he stops walking towards his front door. “D’you know Carson King, by any chance?”

“Yeah, we’re old friends.” Cooper replies, tilting his head. “Oh shit, are you Carson’s Travis?”

“You’re Carson’s Cooper!” Travis exclaims. 

“I’m not Carson’s anything.” Cooper says indignantly. “He’s a troglodyte.”

“Dude, that’s so wild though! We’re both friends with him, but we’ve never met until now.”

“Yeah,” Cooper grins. “He’s always telling crazy stories about you.”

Travis laughs. “He’s like ‘blah blah, you have to meet Cooper,’ but then he can never actually make plans.”

“I guess we don’t need him to introduce us anymore.”


End file.
